 A man in co-hacid has been charged with animal cruelty after being accused of shooting two of his neighbor's pet cats. Lakeland News reporter Cheryl Moore has more on the case that's making headlines across Minnesota. I have this little memorial set up to Olivia because I wasn't ever able to get her body. Pam Dowell says she's always been a cat lover. One day, two of her cats went missing named Olivia and Emerald along with her neighbor's cat Pumpkin. Dowell later went to the police after she heard a voice recording of her neighbor Stephen Michele admit to killing the cats. According to a police report, Michele admitted to investigators that he did hate cats and would shoot at them, but only admitted to shooting two of the three missing cats. He said that although he shot at them, he didn't mean to kill them. He's been charged with three counts of animal cruelty, including a felony count. If convicted, the maximum penalty is two years in prison or a $5,000 fine. Take great pride in my care for and love for my pets. I take great pride in my neighborhood. I think this was a senseless, senseless act of violence. It's hard to believe that someone would do that to a pet and that a neighbor would do that. We reached out to Michele to get his side of the story. He refused to go on camera, but gave a statement saying, Dean Sheriff has talked to Pam on more than one occasion about feeding feral cats and they have attracted a bear and skunks. The city of Cohasit is in the know of what Dean Sheriff has talked to Pam about. Dean Sheriff is the security officer at the city of Cohasit. In a phone interview, he says the city is intending to stay neutral in the case and is leaving the investigation up to the police. He also wants to reiterate the city does not have a feral cat problem. Stephen had an issue with the neighbor of feeding feral cats and whatnot and I had a conversation with him and I just told him, you know, the city doesn't regulate what animals you can feed and what animals you don't. You know, obviously it's been charged accordingly and we'll see what the outcome is when it's all said and done as well. Michele gave us his lawyer's number for further comments. We reached out to the law office who told us they have dropped Michele as a client due to a conflict of interest. Animal folks in Minnesota is also involved in the case. When asked for comment, they gave us a statement reading, crimes against animals must be taken seriously. Not only can this incident result in pain, suffering or death for the animal, these types of crimes can escalate to violence against humans. Dall has now put her house up for sale. She hopes by sharing her story, people will understand this against Minnesota law to kill people's pets. If you believe that a pet or an animal is a nuisance, you have the duty and obligation to call law enforcement or animal control. You do not have the right to pick up a gun. Reporting in Cohasit, Sheryl Moore, Lakeland News. Michele says he would be willing to go on camera after his court date. He's scheduled to appear in front of a judge on December 27th. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.